Speaking up for public schools

The saints are in retreat. Faced by what they consider moral as well as academic breakdown, some evangelical leaders are calling on Christians to withdraw their children from public schools and place them in private religious academies--or better yet--teach them at home. "Exodus 2000," they call it. And for those who miss the exodus, they have a backup plan: "Rescue 2010."

One of the leaders of the dump-public-schools movement is Robert Simons, director of Citizens for Excellence in Education. In a recent fund-raising letter Simons says, "Our public school system unabashedly declares to our children, there is no such thing as right and wrong! There are no absolute standards. There is no God. . . . Our Christian children are falling like dominoes! The humanist manipulators are rejoicing with satanic glee."